The objective of the Long Range Science Strategy (LRSS) collaboration is to finance, steer and promote the successful development of AAT-based test methods and approaches for safety assessment and to facilitate their regulatory acceptance.
Alternatives to animal testing are the development and implementation of test methods that avoid the use of live animals and although there was a marketing ban in 2013 further development in the area is still being urged and it could help to influence other global markets.
The toxicological endpoints that will be covered by the Consortium include the areas of skin sensitisation, eye irritation, genotoxicity, systemic toxicity and skin absorption & metabolism.
Call
Cosmetics Europe’s consortium is self-funded and is open to its members as well as non-members, such as suppliers and other parties.
“With this announcement we invite interested parties with a vested interest in research areas covered by the LRSS Research Programme to actively join the Consortium,” says the organisation’s statement.
“Members will have a voting seat in the LRSS Steering Committee and receive access to first hand research results. In turn, members accept to contribute a share of the costs incurred by the Consortium and accept the conditions stipulated in the Consortium contract.”
The budget of the Consortium will exclusively be used to conduct the LRSS in a most effective manner.
It also has as one of its aims to enter into strategic partnerships which would allow applying for public funding, such as the EC Horizon 2020 programme.
This consortium shall secure the continuation of the AAT work successfully conducted for many years by Cosmetics Europe. The deadline for response to this call is end of March 2015.